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Kentucky Providers file new lawsuit challenging abortion bans in state court

Abortion rights rally
Posted at 3:09 PM, Jun 27, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-28 07:18:25-04

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Kentucky, and Planned Parenthood Northwest, Hawaiʻi, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky filed a state court challenge seeking to block two abortion bans.

They claim the Kentucky Constitution protects the right to privacy and bodily autonomy.

In the lawsuit, the providers seek to block an outright abortion ban passed into law in 2019 and a six-week ban previously blocked by a federal court. This lawsuit comes three days after the Supreme Court decided to end the federal constitutional right to abortion.

Due to Kentucky's trigger law, also called the Human Life Protection Act, all abortions in the state immediately ceased when the Supreme Court made its ruling.

The deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, Brigitte Amiri, says this action "caused devastation in Kentucky and across the country."

"The impacts will be long-lasting, with countless people enduring serious health risks from forced pregnancy and childbirth, making it harder to escape poverty, and derailing education, career, and life plans," Amiri said. "We’ll keep fighting for people’s ability to control if and when to have a child, regardless of where they call home.”

For the full release click here: ACLU - Kentucky.